Like Barkley, the Mailman understands that part of his legacy is tied to his never having won a championship. But I didn’t come to Louisiana to talk about that because what is there to say on the subject? Lots of great players didn’t win one, starting, of course, with Malone’s teammate Stockton. George Gervin didn’t. Patrick Ewing didn’t. Dominique Wilkins didn’t. Hell, Elgin Baylor didn’t, and you could begin the discussion of NBA forwards with him. There are a host of reasons it didn’t happen but there are also two simple ones: For much of his career he went up against the Magic Johnson-led Lakers in the West, and when he and Stockton finally made it to the Finals in 1997 and 1998, there were Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Did the Mailman chase a championship when he signed on with the Lakers in 2003? Sure he did. So did lots of other guys, Barkley for one. But what interests me most about Malone was that he didn’t hang around to try to eclipse Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He needed 1,459 points when he walked away after a disappointing ’03-’04 season during which he tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Malone had slowed down by that time but, given his facility for work and rehab, he could’ve probably gotten back to, say, 80%, and covered the point total in one season. He hadn’t lost his strength game, he had an accurate outside touch and no one had his facility for getting to the line. (The Mailman is the all-time leader both in free throws made and attempted.) I’m not saying that he should’ve hung around; I’m just saying I was surprised he didn’t.

“I’m gonna tell you why, Jack,” Malone said. And he turned serious.

“When I lost my mother nothing mattered for a long period of time,” Malone said. (Shirley Malone, to whom Karl was extremely close, died, at age 64, on Aug. 13, 2003, about six weeks before Malone would join the Lakers.)

Malone is tearing up by now. He tells me that he kept a journal during that time. He called it “Through My Eyes.” In the journal he pledged not to retire and come back.

“That is one of the most disrespectful things you can do to the game,” Malone continues. “I think when my mother died it just made me think about certain things more seriously. That was one of them.”

He may also have been drawing a distinction between himself and Magic, who did retire and come back. Twice. Malone was respectful to Magic’ leadership in Barcelona but broke away with his comments about HIV when they got back to the States. I detail it all in Dream Team.

Predictably, Malone’s reflective mood after Shirley’s death wasn’t the only factor in his leaving. The 2003-04 season was a turbulent one in L.A., defined by Kobe Bryant’s occasional absences to deal with his legal issues tied to an assault charge in Colorado. (Bryant missed 17 games.) And it eventually came to light that there were problems between Malone and Bryant involving Kobe’s wife, Vanessa. (She is now his ex-wife.) It is an impossibly complicated story and I have to be honest: I have no idea who to believe. (I direct you to this link. es.pn/Medb9x if you want to read more.) But it was part and parcel to the drama of the season.

“When nobody cared what was written or said, that season with the Lakers was the most fun I ever had playing in the NBA,” said Malone. “It even came close to the Dream Team experience. When we were good, we were great. Watching the way Shaq and Kobe played together was something else. (Note: The Lakers won 10 in a row early and 11 in a row late.]

“And then it was like somebody threw in a little string. ‘Okay, let’s tell something that Shaq said about Kobe.’ ‘Okay, today, let’s go get Kobe. What did he say about Shaq?’ You could always use one against the other. And I always said that when it became a job instead of a passion, it was time to go.”

Malone also brought up another anecdote that factored in his decision to retire. I found it surprising.

“We’re playing San Antonio in the playoffs. [The Lakers eliminated the Spurs in six games in the Western semis.] They’re fouling the hell out of me and I’m talking to the referee, Bernie Fryar, about it. Now, here I am, 40 years old. Done what I did in the league. And you know what he says to me? ‘Just shut up and play.’

“Man, that bothered me a lot. To say that to another person? A veteran? That stuck in my mind. I knew it was time to go, and I loved how I did it. I just retired and went on with life.”

The incident with Fryar says much about Karl, and, to a degree, the mentality of the superstar athlete: He seems so strong, invulnerable even, but slights, real and imagined, sting him.

I always picture him tapping up his own knee on the bench. What could have been had he remained healthy the rest of the playoffs. If he'd help LA win, he'd most likely return & he'd own that scoring record.

That Malone vs Kobe incident about Vanessa was BIZARRE to say the least, however, let's not forget that the 03-04 season was a TRULY turbulent one! Malone was our LEADER and GLUE to the team. He was AMAZING at finishing his baskets and his passing ability was impressive. If he had not gone down like he did in the playoffs, I wonder how things would have turned out... and I secretly had hoped that he and GP would come back for the 04-05 season without Shaq being there, just to see what Kobe could to with some bona-fide veterans around him. Life works in mysterious ways, gentlemen...

That Malone vs Kobe incident about Vanessa was BIZARRE to say the least, however, let's not forget that the 03-04 season was a TRULY turbulent one! Malone was our LEADER and GLUE to the team. He was AMAZING at finishing his baskets and his passing ability was impressive. If he had not gone down like he did in the playoffs, I wonder how things would have turned out... and I secretly had hoped that he and GP would come back for the 04-05 season without Shaq being there, just to see what Kobe could to with some bona-fide veterans around him. Life works in mysterious ways, gentlemen...

Here is my thinking..if Malone doesn't go down, we win another title. If Shaq got his butt in shape, we'd have won another title even with Malone down.

I STILL never truly forgave shaq for saying he "gave it his all" that season and that Kobe was tripping for calling him out, then he got traded to Miami and lost 30 pounds. It was the most infuriating sight I ever saw in my life and made me happy he was gone if he wasn't gonna give it his all here

I hate how these things get muddled. Malone had knee surgery in 2004 and was considering coming back to play for the Lakers in-season in 2004-5. He attended a game in December and made the "hunting little Mexican girls" comment.

Kobe got mad. Karl got mad. Karl decided not to return and said that Kobe didn't want him. Then, the story broke.

They were neighbors and the two families spent a lot of time together during the 2003-4 season. Malone was sort of a confidante to Kobe during his tumultuous season, and Malone's wife was close with Vanessa.

Malone was undecided if he would retire after having knee surgery in 2004. In November/December, he attended a Lakers home game and it seemed like he was going to return. During the game, he walked by Vanessa and she asked him, "What are you hunting, cowboy?" His response: "I'm hunting little Mexican girls".

After the game, Vanessa told Kobe and Kobe called Karl and yelled at him. A couple of days later, Karl went on LA radio and said that he was not going to return because Kobe didn't want him to play.

No one knew what prompted this from Karl.

TJ Simers caught wind of the story about Karl-Vanessa and approached Kobe with it. Kobe, probably figuring that TJ would run with the story any way, told his side of events and then the story broke shortly thereafter.

They were neighbors and the two families spent a lot of time together during the 2003-4 season. Malone was sort of a confidante to Kobe during his tumultuous season, and Malone's wife was close with Vanessa.

Malone was undecided if he would retire after having knee surgery in 2004. In November/December, he attended a Lakers home game and it seemed like he was going to return. During the game, he walked by Vanessa and she asked him, "What are you hunting, cowboy?" His response: "I'm hunting little Mexican girls".

After the game, Vanessa told Kobe and Kobe called Karl and yelled at him. A couple of days later, Karl went on LA radio and said that he was not going to return because Kobe didn't want him to play.

No one knew what prompted this from Karl.

TJ Simers caught wind of the story about Karl-Vanessa and approached Kobe with it. Kobe, probably figuring that TJ would run with the story any way, told his side of events and then the story broke shortly thereafter.

lmao for a big burly dude Malone sure is a sensitive guy.

"Kobe didn't want me to play..""The ref told me, a veteran, to shut up and play"

like really? I also remember hearing reports that after Karl decided not to return to the Lakers that he was looking at the Spurs? and they won it all in 2005. Shoudla coulda woulda.

I STILL never truly forgave shaq for saying he "gave it his all" that season and that Kobe was tripping for calling him out, then he got traded to Miami and lost 30 pounds. It was the most infuriating sight I ever saw in my life and made me happy he was gone if he wasn't gonna give it his all here

Not to mention that getting Shaq to defer to Kobe more was all we needed from him in order to remain a title contender for years. We didn't need him to become a roleplayer, but to allow Kobe more freedom on the offensive end and to get his own when needed be. Shaq couldn't comply with that, demanded to be traded, got dealt to Miami, and did EXACTLY what we wanted from him to accommodate Wade. What a baby.

Not to mention that getting Shaq to defer to Kobe more was all we needed from him in order to remain a title contender for years. We didn't need him to become a roleplayer, but to allow Kobe more freedom on the offensive end and to get his own when needed be. Shaq couldn't comply with that, demanded to be traded, got dealt to Miami, and did EXACTLY what we wanted from him to accommodate Wade. What a baby.

Right? Kareem did it for Magic...smh

After Mailman went down in the 2004 Finals, I thought we shoulda pounded the ball inside to Shaq, even if that meant he took 30+shots a game Detroit had no answer for him, but by the way Kobe forced a lot of tough shots over that suffocating defense, I got the feeling hed rather lose than let Shaq be Finals MVP again.

After Mailman went down in the 2004 Finals, I thought we shoulda pounded the ball inside to Shaq, even if that meant he took 30+shots a game Detroit had no answer for him, but by the way Kobe forced a lot of tough shots over that suffocating defense, I got the feeling hed rather lose than let Shaq be Finals MVP again.

Remember Larry Brown's strategy against the Lakers that year? When they were in a huddle and he told them just to focus all their defense on stopping Kobe, and one asked him what about Shaq and Larry Brown said to leave Shaq to do whatever he wanted and focus on Kobe.

Brown KNEW that if Kobe had the ball in his hands it wasn't because Shaq was deferring to him, so stopping Kobe was going to be the reason they won because Shaq wasn't going to be in good enough shape(his own fault) to be able to make them HAVE to focus on him.

Remember Larry Brown's strategy against the Lakers that year? When they were in a huddle and he told them just to focus all their defense on stopping Kobe, and one asked him what about Shaq and Larry Brown said to leave Shaq to do whatever he wanted and focus on Kobe.

Brown KNEW that if Kobe had the ball in his hands it wasn't because Shaq was deferring to him, so stopping Kobe was going to be the reason they won because Shaq wasn't going to be in good enough shape(his own fault) to be able to make them HAVE to focus on him.

Brown knew what he was doing.

Shaq was 375lbs at that point and was lazy and never worked on his gm during off season. Kobe was disgusted with him all season. Malone got hurt for the 1st time and didnt even want to try to play in Finals. GP was the "mitten" by then cuz he couldnt watch any PG in any series.

lol @ the Mitten comment ...i always hear people saying how man more shaq + Kobe could of won but i dont think they could of won more than 3 Shaq was considered a "lazy" player by his peers not just the Lakers who he played with but also in Phoenix shaq was overweight and not anywear close to game shape i feel shaq wanted to get back at Kobe for having him traded so he got into game shape and won another ring.